the golden state

today, i graduated from the vertical driver's license to the horizontal license. hooray! the trip to the dmv brings back memories. it's the only dmv i know. the place where i passed the permit test, the place the three fingered veteran failed me for almost getting into an accident, and the place i finally passed after almost getting into a similar situation as the first time. (there was a blind left turn. very very difficult) oh, the dmv.

what's more exciting than the dmv is my visit to california! it was tons of fun, filled with good people, sunshine, good food. when is it time to go back?

laura picked me up thursday night and i stayed at her place all weekend long. her house is so spacious and bright and homey with fireplaces and a nice deck (with lemon trees). it even came with nice people. i approve =) the couch was super comfy too. while laura was at work, i wandered the streets of san francisco. hit chinatown, pier 39, coit tower, the mission, the neighborhoods between glen park and the mission. things i've determined: alcatraz is way too close to the city to be considered safe distance. there are fat sea lions living in the harbor. people of indian descent make good ice cream. burritos are terrific. the strip clubs are two blocks from the financial district. hills and stairs are good for my heart. shuangy has a stick waiting for her in sf. it's amazing how integrated cultures are. in the mission, i found an indian store, mexican store, chinese store, plus all the thrift stores one could ask for in one block. if i had more time, i'd go wandering around that area more.

alcatraz

i like this picture the best. the little town houses with the big buildings in the background

shuangy's stick!

afterwards, cliff, laura, and i met up at cliff's work place and then headed to yelena's for bbq with burgers and smores! unfortunately, the five pound burrito that i almost finished eating was still waiting to be digested, so i didn't really have much room for anything else. [speaking of the GI tract, my dad likened practicing for interviews with prepping for colonoscopy which entails lots of laxative to clean everything out. great image..] paul came by later and we had a great discussion about urination with yelena's roommate, a US team kayaker!, and another guy who was eventually scared away. "drinky drinky" at the nuthouse followed with fun nudey picture games and foosball! by the time laura and i got home, the sun had risen on the east coast.

after a hearty breakfast of grits, waffles, eggs, fried chicken, and biscuits at lois the pie queen (the berkeley ultimate team namesake), laura, yelena, cliff, and i set out to conquer mt. tam.

i like how we instinctively ordered ourselves according to height

on sunday, i thought we were all going to a big pickup event, but it turns out it was practice! with drills! an extraordinary number of people showed up (they said over 60). it's hard to believe they're going to pare down all those people to form 1 team. i guess some people were just there for that day, but still... i sure as hell don't envy the people putting together the team. yay for politics. christy keenan and shwu were there too! i met some other people, but generally, it seemed like the people starting the team didn't make much effort to get to know new people. maybe they knew them all already? or perhaps they hardly knew any and the task was too daunting to try? at any rate, it seemed very cliquey. but we had our own little mit clique until they split us all up =P tryouts were dangerous. laura was footblocked in the hand and yelena was playing with a bruised/sprained thumb and someone gratuitously laid out into me. damn reckless west coasters. i'm glad we went though. it made me realize how much i missed women's ultimate. there's just something about it that makes it feel like home. yay for no men.

laura had a grand plan of mini golf, so we picked up cliff and head to the greens with yelena's cheme/ultimate friend as well. it became very apparent very quickly that yelena was the star golfer of the day. =) her form was exquisite and her accuracy was unmatched. she even almost had a hole in 1! i'm sad i forgot my camera. we all went our separate ways afterwards. sad =(

but there was food to still be had. food from burma. it was delicious. garlic noodles with pork and mango and fish curry and salad with all kinds of ginger and legume type "vegetables" and excellent gelato afterwards. the perfect way to end the weekend.

other images of the trip.